Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Laurel it's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant gladiolus.

Planting Calendar for Gladiolus

Frost tolerance for gladiolus:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since gladiolus are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gladiolus in Laurel is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gladiolus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gladiolus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gladiolus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Laurel. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Laurel and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Laurel there is a last frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your gladiolus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Laurel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Laurel

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Laurel.